York drug dealer, 'extreme risk to public safety,' sentenced to up to 14 years in prison

Drug delivery resulting in death was originally classified as a type of murder in Pennsylvania, but now it's a felony and the charge is getting used a lot more frequently.
Sean Heisey, York Daily Record

Brandon Beatty, 36, of York, was found guilty of criminal conspiracy to deliver heroin with fentanyl.

Common Pleas Judge Craig T. Trebilcock said he was bound by the jury’s determination of what happened in the case. But Beatty, he said, is a “career criminal” who’s shown “no rehabilitative potential or remorse” for the crime.

“The defendant was clearly engaging in a life of dealing drugs and profiting from that drug trade,” said Trebilcock, who described him as an extreme risk to public safety. “This was not an isolated incident.”

Earlier in the hearing, Tom Kelley, Beatty’s attorney, took issue with the York County Department of Probation Services’ sentencing recommendation. It was never stated on-the-record.

Kelley said it was inappropriate for the probation department to consider pending charges of which his client is presumed to be innocent. Beatty’s previous felony drug convictions, he said, were already contemplated in the sentencing guidelines.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Lewis Reagan argued that Beatty was not open to treatment, citing how the crime constituted his fifth felony drug conviction.

The case also involved two deadly opioids: heroin and fentanyl, Reagan said.

“Time and time again, he’s been getting either probation or given county incarceration,” Reagan said. “It has had absolutely no effect on his criminal behavior whatsoever.”

Check out this photo gallery of York County's most wanted: (The photos and information published are provided by the York County Sheriff's Office. To report information on any of these individuals, call York County Crime Stoppers at 717-755-TIPS)